Balanced pair cable has higher attenuation at higher frequencies, hence the longer the wire between DSLAM and subscriber, the slower the maximum possible data rate. The following is a rough guide to the relation between wire distance and maximum data rate. Local conditions may vary, especially beyond 2 km, often necessitating a closer DSLAM to bring acceptable speeds:
| Speed Mbit/s | Distance (km) |
| 25 | 0.30 |
| 24 | 0.6 |
| 23 | 0.9 |
| 22 | 1.2 |
| 21 | 1.5 |
| 19 | 1.8 |
| 16 | 2.1 |
| 1.5 | 4.5 |
| 0.8 | 5.2 |